The present invention relates to a crushing device especially for scrap metal and industrial and/or domestic refuse, having a housing with a material feeding section and a material removal section. The housing contains a rotor that is rotatable about a horizontal shaft positioned in the housing and is provided with crushing members whereby the crushing members for performing the crushing operation cooperate with abutments provided at the housing.
Such a crushing device, for example, is known from German Patent 36 43 529 in which the material to be crushed is subjected over an angular distance of approximately 180.degree. to a direct crushing operation and is subsequently guided to a material removal outlet of variable size. When the material to be crushed presents a great resistance to the crushing operation, there is a risk that until the material to be crushed reaches the material removal outlet, where the non-crushable or difficult-to-crush material can be rejected, the material subjects the rotor and the housing, respectively, its abutments to considerable forces. Due to the resulting forces damage especially to the rotor cannot be avoided. The resulting unfavorable change of the dynamic performance of the rotor in extreme situation can lead to breakdown of the entire crushing device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a crushing device of the aforementioned kind such that peak values of the forces generated during the crushing process, which peak values greatly surpass the average forces required and which during permanent operation would result in an overload of the device, can be suppressed.